My Bouquet of life with kids, making, baking, sewing, crochet and all things vintage ofcourse

Friday, 1 November 2013

Halloween and Gluten and Dairy Free Pumpkin and Cocnut slice with Lemoncream.

Happy Halloween everyone. It has most certainly been a fun filled couple of days around here. The house has been everything but calm over the last couple of days, the kids have been running wild with excitement of going trick or treating and going by the continued excitement, I think they've had heaps of fun. We decorated the house and I also made some last minute bunting (I sense a pattern emerging here!). Ma gave me a fat quarter of some really sweet Halloween fabric when I saw her over the summer, so I thought I would put it to good use. I had an Eureka moment when I was going through my stash trying to make the bunting big enough, and now the bunting can double up as Autumnal bunting too, with the reverse in pretty autumnal colours.

For this weeks bake I figured I might as well use the pumpkin flesh from the pumpkins I carved with the kids and attempt a pumpkin cake/slice. I have made pumpkin cake before, but to be honest, I have never been that big a fan. I love Pumpkin pie, but for some reason the pumpkin cakes, or muffins I have attempted in the past have never been a success. So how was I going to do it?

Well I drew inspiration from The Gluten-Free Goddess and Pippa Kendrick and figured that if I applied a similar approach to the cakes I have baked from these two fabulous gluten-free experts, then the result should surely be a success. So I set off and with a little guess pouring here and there, which to be honest was fun, a bit like making pretend cake in little Es's kitchen. The exciting bit was not really knowing how it was all going to turn out, but the end result is amazing!!! The coconut flavour is really lovely and I think I might try and add a little more Coconut flour instead of the all purpose flour next time. The recipe is gluten and dairy free and to be honest I don't know how it will work with gluten, but it's always worth a try. All the gluten hungry folk who ate it want the recipe, so I reckon it is worth a try.

So here is the recipe for my Pumpkin and Coconut Slice with Lemon Cream. I will add that this is the first attempt at this, so I am sure there is plenty of opportunity for doing a little tweaking here and there, but with all the feedback I have had over this cake, I think it is fare to say, you won't be disappointed.

1.Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Line and butter a 9 inch square baking tin, or anything similar, with baking paper and Pure Dairy free spread.
3. Mix all the dry ingredients together in an electric mixer or by hand for a minute or so and then make a well in the middle of the mixture.
4. Pour in the beaten eggs, pumpkin puree, softened coconut oil, vanilla extract and then mix for a couple of minutes until the mixture is fully mixed. It will now look a bit like peanut butter, so this is where I just poured in some almond milk, which I suspect was around 1/2 cup of almond milk, you can make this with normal milk if you like. Just keep adding a little milk if the mixture is still looking far too dry. This mixture wont be very soft, but it needs to slide off into the baking tin with a little help and NOT look like it is glued to the bowl.
5. Stir in the walnuts
6. Put mixture into your baking tin.
7. Bake for around 20- 25 minutes, this will depend on your oven, but start checking from 20 minutes onwards.
8. Now make the Lemon Cream. Soften the pure sunflower spread a little then sieve in your icing sugar and mix.
9. Grate the zest of one lemon or more if you prefer a very lemony taste, I think I might do one and a half next time, but one is really delicious so if in doubt start with one. Then add the zest to your butter and sugar mixture.
10. Leave your cake to cool completely before you ice it and once iced you can cut it into slices, which makes for easy eating and the ideal thing to put on your Halloween party table or any other for that matter.

This cake will be delicious all year round, but I love the fact that I just used the flesh of the pumpkins I carved for Halloween without letting any go to waste. For any of you wanting to bake this, please let me know how you get on and also give some feedback on what worked better for you. I will most definitely be making this again, so if there are any tweaks I will let you know.

I was hoping to find time to change the Friday Bake to Weekly Bake, but unfortunately that will have to wait until next week, but if any of you have done a spot of baking this week and fancy linking in, please do so at the bottom of this post at any point during the week. Hopefully I have also sorted out the link problem from last week as the lovely Anne from Marmalade and Catmint tried to link in her very delicious looking 'Sticky Treacle and Ginger Lime Cake', so if you didn't see this last week, do pop over to her lovely blog to have a look at this recipe.

I don't know about you, but we are fairly exhausted after this weeks spooky excitement, so we have a very quiet weekend in stall. There will however be a trip out for our very first Bonfire night as a family, as it is the first year I THINK my health will allow, so I am really excited about it. I just hope that the rain gives us a little clearing as it won't be much fun in the wet and cold. So what do you all have planned this weekend???

This weekend I am really looking forward to finishing Andrea Levy's Never Far From Nowhere, I really enjoy Andrea's books, and even though this isn't as good as Small Island or Long Song, I am thoroughly enjoying it. I love this time of year where we can light the fire and enjoy some relaxing time with the family, reading, playing or getting completely lost in Downton or Strictly. Oh Life is good. Wishing you all a very enjoyable and relaxing weekend.

Great post lovely Hannapat, and I hope to try that delicious looking cake sometime soon, thank you! Love your plates and your bunting, as well as your spooky youngsters and weird and wonderful decorations around your home. It certainly looks and sounds like lots of fun went on around your place. I do hope you can enjoy the bonfire night and fingers crossed for fine weather.Warm hugs and love, Joy xoxo

Thanks Joy, you should really give it a try and do let me know how you get on with it as I would love to hear your feedback. Yes the very spooky decorations were most certainly a little weird at places. Most of our trick or treaters are older children as the little ones stay in my centre of the village and doesn't venture off the beaten track, so I have fun giving them all a little thrill, they always enjoy it and so do I! Sadly we didn't make it to Bonfire night, maybe next year. Thanks for your lovely comment as always, I really appreciate them. Much love xoxo

Lovely Hannapat what a fabulous recipe you are a real wonder - I could settle for a piece of this right now with my coffee - on go on then 2 slices please! You enjoy your bonfire Hannapat well deserved and time for you to have a really fab time with your lovely family. Glad that the Halloween went well and love the bunting. I am having a go myself this evening with Christmas bunting, have never made this before in my life so am hoping it turns out - will show you on the blog. Have a super weekend dearest Hannapat, big hugs and lots of love to youDorothy:-)xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Thanks Dorothy, you are far too kind!! You are always welcome for a cuppa and a slice or two, that would be very lovely, shall I pop the kettle on! Looking forward to seeing your Christmas bunting. Enjoy your weekend lovely Dorothy and thank you for your comments xoxo

Oh Sti I wish I had your passion for cooking! You make everything look so good! I hope you will be well enough to get to the bonfire. How have you been feeling? I've picked up a bit this week, after having a couple of rough weeks. My heart seems okay on the new med as long as I don't play around with the dosage. Sending much love to you. Xx

Thanks Leisa, I don't know how I would live without enjoying my time in the kitchen, it is such an integral part in my life and I suppose even though I was obsessed with it before I got ill, I am even more obsessed with it now. I am pleased to hear that you are feeling a little better and that the meds, if regulated, are making a difference. You are never far from my thoughts. Much love sweetie xoxo

What wonderful Halloween decorations. I love the fabric pumpkins!! I have never made pumpkin pie, but I do toast the seeds. They are delicious. It sounds as if your children had a wonderful time too! I'm planning on taking Olly to his first firework and bonfire display next week. I hope the loud bangs don't scare him! Have a lovely weekend Hannapat, and thank you for your continued support of me and my little blog. I very much appreciate it. XX

Thanks Leanne, you should definitely try and make pumpkin pie, I am sure I have given a link to it on my Friday Bakes so check it out. I hope you and Olly have heaps of fun at the firework display, sadly we didn't make it last night as it was very wet and windy, better luck next year. xoxo

Your house looked great - especially those fabric pumpkins. I need to make some of those next year! The fabric bunting is gorgeous, it's ideal for Autumn. The pumpkin cake looks delish...whenever I wing it with recipes they ALWAYS end up a complete disaster - so well done you. I'll add my weekly bakes if I get chance to post this weekend.(Thank you so much for your lovely comments on my Autumn wreath, I'm so chuffed you like it.) XX

Your bunting is really nice. It looks like the kids had a great Halloween. It was really fun for us too, but I'm happy to have it behind us now. There's so much other fun stuff coming up! The cake recipe sounds delicious, thank you for sharing. Hope you're having a nice weekend. :)

Oh, my - spooky fun! The kiddos look like they probably had the best of times - ahhhhhhhh, Halloween is best spent with little ones (or big ones in Horse Heads)! :-) LOVE the pumpkins - and what you MADE from the innards...thanks for a wonderful looking recipe. I am done with out of town guest for the time being, and settling back into reading my favorite blogs, now...will enjoy catching up here, for sure. In the meantime, I hope you find the time to finish your book today - Happy Sunday, Hannahpat!!!

So many nice images here! I love your Halloween displays, with your carved pumpkins (which are great) and the felt ones. What a genius idea to make the bunting reversible. Your cakes look so good. I usually make pumpkin cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting around now but didn't this year. I hope you have a great week and enjoy the fireworks. xx

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Welcome to Cosmos and Cotton, I am so pleased you have stopped by and I hope you enjoy your time here. For this blog I am using Hannapat, the name my Mother called me when I was growing up and it holds a very special place in my heart. I am so blessed that we have a special bond. She has inspired me throughout my life and continue to do so even whilst being on the other side of the world.
I am happily married to a husband I adore and we have two wonderful children whom bring so much joy to our lives. I love spending time with them and being part of the journey in life. I love filling my days with moments of making or creating. I enjoy thrifting and finding little gems and there is nothing more rewarding than finding some old tat and turning it into something beautiful. A year and a half ago I started crocheting and it's fair to say that I am completely hooked!! I just wish there was more time to put yarn around my hook.
This blog is a diary of my life and I hope to share some fun and wonderful moments with you all. I have been so inspired by creative spirits and their blogs over the years and I hope I can return the favour. Hannapat